S10 Lost all forward gears!

[bennelson]

I went to go to the store this afternoon in my 95 Chevy S-10 with 2.2l 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed manual transmission.

I backed out of my driveway, and then put it in first to pull forward.

The engine died. I restarted and tried pulling forward again. Killed the engine again.

What the heck! I couldn't go forward! It was as though the transmission simply wouldn't spin forward. I tried again in second gear, slipping the clutch more and reving the engine higher! Still couldn't go forward at all!

I was still able to use reverse. I went all around the block backwards to pull back into my driveway.

I parked the truck, turned off the engine, and popped the hood. Nothing weird that I could see.

I started the truck again and forward worked fine! What the heck!

What's going on here? The only thing I could think of was that there was lots of ice and slush under the truck from the day before, but why would that effect anything?

I really hope this doesn't happen again, but I need to figure out why it happened, so I can fix it!

[TestDrive]

If you had been barely able to move forward, I'd have said check the rear drum brakes.
Posted this mostly to subscribe to thread.

[brucey]

If the parking brake froze shut, it wouldnt be as effective (if at all) in reverse, but still wouldnt let you go forward. It might have been down but would have still been locked. I've had this happen to several cars actually. Most were automatics though and would simply power out of it.

[bennelson]

I only have the 2.2 engine, which isn't very powerful. Still, I could NOT go forward, no matter what.

When the problem did finally solve itself, I did notice that I could again engine-off roll forward, and I don't think I could when the problem presented itself.

I had NO problems going in reverse. There was zero drag at all.

If this really was just a parking brake thing, I say "shwew!" (rubs back of hand against forehead)

Parking brakes, I can handle, rebuilding a transmission, I can't!

So, could icy road conditions gotten enough slush up under the truck to literally freeze the brake cable? Is that what you guys are thinking?

It was slushy yesterday, then the truck was sitting out in the driveway today, slush from yesterday froze over after getting home, messing up the brake?

[Ryland]

it's the 2 wheel drive model, right?
I would say that you should change your tranny fluid, if everything looks fine then pretend it was ice on the linkage or something, how many times did you try going from revers back to forward?

[Coyote X]

Driving it backwards a bit probably warmed them up enough to let go so I guess that is an option next time. Just drive your first mile in reverse.

Parking brakes have almost no grip in reverse so at least you are lucky it was just a stuck pad or something and not the whole drum full of ice keeping the whole thing locked up tight till spring thaw. Be almost as bad as parking in a deep hole of water that froze up around your tire and stuck the car in place.

[bennelson]

Two wheel drive model.

I tried going between forward and reverse several times. Plenty enough to go "hey it works in reverse, but not forwards!"

It was a pretty long distance in reverse. It's not actually a block that I can go around, rather a big horse-shoe shaped road through the subdivision across the street.

If any neighbors saw me doing that, they probably think that I am even weirder now.

[Ryland]

some ice in side our gear oil could have done that, but it's warmer out then it has been... still I say to drain the tranny fluid.

[blueflame]

You say the engine died?

Do you mean the car stalled like it couldnt produce enough power to move forward or something cut the engine out?

I'm thinking the weather caused an ENGINE fault that only showed when trying to move forward?

And the warm up cured the fault and dollars for doughnuts it will never happen again!

Your fault description needs expanding....

[MetroMPG]

I vote for the stuck parking brake. Glad it resolved itself.